Recently, the game industry has been developed as a data process model or an online business model, and the game related technology has been developed as well.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a general online game system.
The general online game includes a plurality of clients 10, 11 and 12 and a game system 20. The game system 20 includes a game server 21 and a database server 22. The game server 21 can provide the clients 10, 11 and 12 with game data through a network, and the database server 22 stores game programs, game data and user information data.
The clients 10, 11 and 12 can download a client program for running an online game, and then play the game through the program. The game server 21 is provided with a game contents program which processes membership registration, game data process, game data statistics and user data for running the game.
Recently, many flash games are being developed. The flash game can provide various effects online due to a fast processing speed and a low load by using the Flash animation software. Since it is easy and takes little time to produce the flash game, social issues or trends can be quickly reflected therein.
Further, since the flash game can be easily embedded in a web page by using game source address information, a user can be easily brought into contact with the game and play the game while surfing the web.
Meanwhile, a service, which commercially provides the user with a highly entertaining game, is being actively provided to the user as well. In such case, a technique of hiding source information to prohibit a random access to the game source, thereby protecting copyrights and preventing illegal traffics.
However, such technique for protecting the commercial flash game source may work as a disadvantage to the flash game. In other words, the technique prevents the flash game from being easily distributed on the web.
Recently, a highly profitable method of marketing (i.e., “viral marketing”) has been proposed, in which advertisement effect can be maximized by the distribution of certain contents through self-replicating viral process.
There is thus a need for a new a game system that can simultaneously protect the game source and exhibit the effect of the viral marketing.
The above information disclosed in this Background Art section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.